<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>i, spy by lunardistance</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24193858">i, spy</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunardistance/pseuds/lunardistance'>lunardistance</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Mamamoo</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Spy, Crossdressing, Disguise, F/F, Minor Violence, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Rivalry, Seduction, Truth Serum</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-03 01:02:32</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>7,240</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24193858</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunardistance/pseuds/lunardistance</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Moon Byulyi, codename Moonbyul, is one of the best agents on the field. But when a simple extraction mission goes awry and a mysterious woman snatches her target right from under her nose, it appears as though she now has competition.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kim Yongsun | Solar/Moon Byulyi | Moonbyul</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>107</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>i, spy</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>A story nearly two years in the making! This one sat in my drafts for over a year before I finally remembered that it existed and pushed myself to finally finish it.</p><p>Two of my biggest inspirations for this fic are Britney Spears' "Toxic" and MAMAMOO's "Um Oh Ah Yeah" (with a little splash of "Wind Flower" because I really thought it would be a noir-themed MV from the teaser photos lmao). Thanks so much to <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/alykapedia/pseuds/alykapedia">@alykapedia</a> for bouncing ideas around with me, and to <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/strangeparties/pseuds/strangeparties">@strangeparties</a> for being an awesome beta and helping me to come up with a satisfactory ending!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was supposed to be a simple extraction job. Go to the conference. Mingle with the corporate bigwigs. Steal the transmitter. Perform the drop-off. Pretty standard routine, as far as extraction jobs went.</p><p>The job itself wasn't anything out of the ordinary; in fact, Byulyi probably had more trouble with the maid assigned to her room than the self-absorbed CEO she had lifted the transmitter from. But she must have majorly pissed off some higher being to earn the luck that she was going through now.</p><p>Hyejin, codename Hwasa, or in this case, "Ricky", was seated right across the airplane aisle from her, in prime position to receive the drop-off. The plan was to make her way to the cubicle and drop the transmitter into Hwasa's lap as she passed by.</p><p>The timing had to be right, though – not too early that they would risk someone behind them being alert enough to notice. The company they stole the technology from had to be aware of the theft by now, and Byulyi wouldn't put it past them to plant their people on all flights departing from Jeju Island to try to catch the thief. Her male disguise as "Yoo Nayul" would throw base suspicion off, but it was still a good hour before they got back to Seoul.</p><p>Byulyi flipped through the inflight magazine, counting down the seconds in her mind. Twenty minutes before they were scheduled to land, she rose from her seat—</p><p>—only to feel the splash of cold champagne all over her trousers.</p><p>"Oh, Sir, I am so sorry!" the stewardess gushed her apologies as she dabbed frantically at where the liquid was seeping into her thigh. Byulyi caught a glimpse of a momentarily dumbfounded Hwasa over the stewardess' shoulder. The look was almost comical given the masculine features she was sporting at the moment.</p><p>"Please forgive my clumsiness, Sir," the stewardess continued to babble, her hand climbing dangerously close to the vee of Byulyi's pants where an important piece of anatomy was missing. To make things worse, all of the surrounding passengers were completely focused on them, making a subtle drop-off impossible. "I can have these cleaned for you if you just—"</p><p>"Now, now, no need for that," Hwasa boomed out in a surprisingly low voice as she slid her arm around the stewardess' waist. The stewardess jerked back and straightened up instinctively – Byulyi felt a little bad for her, but Hwasa meant no actual harm, and most importantly, it got her away from Byulyi's pants.</p><p>"We all know it was an accident, Miss... Sunhae," Hwasa read from her nameplate with calculated relish, flashing the stewardess a lecherous grin before flicking her eyes over to Byulyi. "Isn't that right, my man?"</p><p>Byulyi coughed, uncomfortable with the sudden attention directed towards her. "Yes, I'll just... wash this off," she mumbled, hoping her voice was pitched low enough to pass for a man. She skittered from her seat, leaving the stewardess attempting to disentangle herself from Hwasa's hold as Byulyi made her way to an unoccupied cubicle.</p><p>"Aish," she grumbled, patting at the damp crotch of her pants with a wad of tissues. And she'd just had this suit dry cleaned, too. Byulyi pulled the transmitter from her pocket to check for damage, all the while idly wondering if she could get her next cleaning reimbursed, considering the stain was sustained while she was on the clock.</p><p>"Yoo-nim?"</p><p>Byulyi had just enough time to shove the transmitter back into her pocket before the cubicle door slid open, and the stewardess from earlier stepped inside.</p><p>"I—how did you—why are you—?" Byulyi gawked as the stewardess locked the door behind her before fixing Byulyi with a look much more predatory than her soft, round face ought to be capable of.</p><p>"I just wanted to convey my sincerest apologies for the inconvenience, Yoo Nayul-nim," the stewardess—Sunhae?—purred. "Please allow me to assist you."</p><p>"That... That won't be necessary, thank you," Byulyi stammered, too bewildered to be conscious about the way her voice squeaked dangerously.</p><p>"Oh, no, I insist." Sunhae's painted lips lifted into a slow smile as she drew closer; Byulyi was hypnotized by the twin dimples that appeared on either side of her mouth. "Here on RBW Airlines, we take care of our passengers very thoroughly."</p><p>And then Byulyi's mind blanked out as Sunhae coaxed her into an open-mouthed kiss. Later on, she would be embarrassed about the way her hands immediately grasped at the stewardess' shoulders, or the way she gasped into her mouth as Sunhae's hands ran along the length of her body. In that moment, though, there was nothing but the meeting of lips, the sliding of tongues, their bodies arching towards each other.</p><p>Byulyi could feel the press of Sunhae's chest against where her own breasts had been carefully bound down. A moment of clarity suddenly broke through the haze clouding her mind: there was still an important part of anatomy that she did not possess.</p><p>"That's enough, thank you, miss." Byulyi held Sunhae at arms' length, trying not to focus on how her lipstick hadn’t even budged from its perfect placement.</p><p>Sunhae blinked at her guilelessly. "Are you sure? At least let me help you with—"</p><p>"It's fine, thank you." Byulyi's tone brooked no further argument. Something in her twinged guiltily at the stewardess' downcast expression, but Sunhae seemed to pull herself together quickly enough.</p><p>"I'll see you outside, Yoo Nayul-nim." She departed from the cubicle, fixing her kerchief where it now laid askew. Had Byulyi really tugged at it that much? God, she needed a drink after this. Something stronger than champagne, definitely.</p><p>Byulyi lingered inside the cubicle a few minutes more, willing the flush to recede from her cheeks and hoping her lips didn't look too suspiciously swollen. If anyone asked, she had been waiting for her pants to dry.</p><p>She made it outside just in time for the seatbelt sign to turn on in preparation for their descent, and by then there was no time to attempt the drop-off again. It would have to be at baggage claim, where people would be too distracted by their luggage to pay attention to an exchange.</p><p>The ghost sensation of the stewardess' lips remained on Byulyi's mind as they reached the carousels, even as Hwasa sidled up to her with her own luggage trolley.</p><p>"Yoo-sshi, i think now would be a good time," Hwasa muttered, peering over her outrageous aviators at the mound of bags sliding onto the carousel.</p><p>Byulyi sighed, consciously pushing the thoughts of the stewardess out of her mind. She affected a bored expression as she slid her hand into her pocket.</p><p>Her fingers met nothing.</p><p>A shiver of cold dread ran through her body, even as she held her nonchalant expression and carefully patted at the other pocket. Then at the back pockets. Then at the pockets of her suit jacket, and at the pockets sewn into the lining.</p><p>"Yoo-sshi." Hwasa's voice held an edge now, barely perceptible unless you had been working with her for years.</p><p>Byulyi hadn't heard that edge in months.</p><p>She allowed just a trace of panic to flit onto her features. "It's gone."</p><p>To her credit, Hwasa didn't yell at Byulyi right away (though had they been in a safer location, Byulyi had no doubt she would have screamed her ears off, seniority be damned). They both struggled to run back to the plane in as masculine a fashion as they could muster. Byulyi spotted a group of RBW Airlines' flight attendants making their way past immigration, and made a beeline for them.</p><p>"Excuse me!" Byulyi called out, giving up on a masculine tone of voice. "I lost my phone on the plane. Were you able to pick anything up?"</p><p>"I'm so sorry, sir, but we were not able to find any phones left behind on the aircraft." One of the flight attendants bowed apologetically. "Would you like to lodge a report?"</p><p>"What about that stewardess you were with? Maybe she picked it up?" Hwasa flapped her hand impatiently.</p><p>"Sunhae!" Byulyi nodded at Hwasa's prompting. "She assisted me earlier. Do you know where she is?"</p><p>The flight attendants looked at each other oddly. "Sir, perhaps you might have misremembered?" one of them ventured. "We did not fly with a Sunhae today."</p><p>"That's impossible," Byulyi said flatly – if it turned out that they were covering for a thieving colleague, this airline would never hear the end of it. "I read her nameplate, I know it was her."</p><p>"Sir, we do have a stewardess named Sunhae on our crew," the attendant clarified. "It's just that she is on leave today, so she was not with us on this last flight."</p><p>"It was strange of her to leave her uniform at the back, though, wasn't it?" another flight attendant mused out loud. "She has to be more careful with her things."</p><p>Byulyi scanned the group of flight attendants, but was unable to find the stewardess that had cornered her in the cubicle earlier. She finally turned to Hwasa, who was equally wide-eyed over the rim of her sunglasses.</p><p>"Holy shit."</p><p>----</p><p>"A stewardess stole it?"</p><p>"If she even was a real stewardess," Byulyi grumbled into the built-in headset of her helmet, all the while expertly weaving in and out of the tail end of Seoul's rush hour traffic. "For all we know, she could have stolen that uniform, too."</p><p>"It's kind of scary to think that someone could pull the wool over your eyes like that, unnie." Wheein's last remark was punctuated by the sound of crinkling in the background, and the munching noises that came through the speaker confirmed that the intelligence analyst was currently snacking on the job. "But it's strange. We haven't received any intel that the source company managed to get the transmitter back, and it doesn't seem like their style to go for an undercover retrieval."</p><p>Byulyi came to a stop at an intersection, allowing her to mull over Wheein's observations. "You think it's a third party?" Byulyi asked, forehead scrunching behind her visor.</p><p>"Weird, no? But it's pretty hot technology, so I can see why other people might want to get their hands on it. Heck, I would kill to have the chance to pick it apart myself."</p><p>The light changed to green, and Byulyi was off again. "If it's that important, it can't stay under the radar for very long. Keep your feelers out for it, alright, Wheeinie?"</p><p>"Already three steps ahead of you," Wheein chirped back over the sound of rapid typing. "It's a good thing you didn't get scrubbed over too badly over this. I thought for sure you would be banned from fieldwork for at least a month."</p><p>"Not like they have much choice. I'm too good to be kept off missions," Byulyi took the opportunity to gloat, and chuckled at the exasperated noise Wheein made at the declaration. "Besides, it's not like they have much choice. We're undermanned as it is."</p><p>"It'd be nice to finally get a replacement for sunbaenim," Wheein agreed. "She's probably having fun at the Bahamas or something right now."</p><p>"Vanuatu?"</p><p>"Same banana. Anyway, give me a description of the stewardess, too. I'll put out feelers for her as well."</p><p>Byulyi thought of the hot flash of want in her gut; of kisses stolen in an airplane cubicle; of soft pink lips and a smile like sunshine. "About a couple of centimeters shorter than me without heels. A mole under her brow. Dimples along either side of her mouth when she smiles."</p><p>"Those are pretty good distinguishing marks," Wheein hummed to herself as she worked. Moles could be faked or hidden easily, but dimples were more difficult to conceal. "By the way, unnie, you never mentioned how she got the transmitter from you in the first place?"</p><p>"Oh, would you look at that, I'm at the location." Byulyi said loudly, parking her motorcycle along a concealed alcove a safe distance away from either entrance of the building. "Perimeter check, please?"</p><p>"Don't think I don't know what you're doing," Wheein grumbled, but obliged to the request. Byulyi thanked whatever deity was listening that her colleagues were all about business when it came down to it, though she knew she was in for her own interrogation the next time she ran into Wheein. Better avoid any drinking sessions this week to be safe.</p><p>"The guards should be finished with the current set of rounds in five minutes, so you can take that chance to get into the safe room. Go for the vent towards the garden side – we've managed to disable the motion sensitivity of the camera monitoring that area, so if you get in within the specified window of time, you should be good."</p><p>Byulyi snapped on her night vision goggles, doing a last check of her person to ensure her toolkit was in order. After exactly two minutes, she launched herself up and over the gate. The topiary helped to disguise her presence as she stalked towards the vent, all the while wary of the security camera poised just below the roof.</p><p>The cover came off easily enough, revealing a passageway just large enough for her to fit through. Byulyi slid it back into place behind her before starting to crawl through the space. A tap of the goggles brought up a map of the building, allowing her to traverse the network without much trouble.</p><p>The real work began at the actual safe room. The changing of the guards gave Byulyi a scant half minute to get through the security system, a feat that required both voice recognition and a retinal scan. Thankfully, the engineering team had managed to manufacture a device that would override the security checks. Byulyi was highly trained in melee combat and could fight several people off on her own, but the more covert the operation, the better.</p><p>She made it in with five seconds to spare, and a room full of motion detection lasers to get through.</p><p>As it would turn out, she wasn't the first to make it into the vault tonight.</p><p>Byulyi gawked at the black-clad woman poised daintily in the middle of the room, green vial in hand. The woman blinked back from where she was suspended from the high ceiling, her features obscured by a netted mask over the top half of her face.</p><p>"Ah, it's you again."</p><p>"You know this person?" Wheein asked incredulously through the earpiece.</p><p>"I know you?" Byulyi echoed out loud.</p><p>The woman grinned, revealing the dimples on either side of her mouth. "Sorry, Yoo Nayul-nim. First come, first served."</p><p>"You!" Byulyi sputtered, but the woman—Sunhae? Was that even her real name?—was already zipping her way back up to the ceiling. With controlled grace, she swung herself back and forth until she could get enough momentum to launch herself towards a small, open window.</p><p>"The mask is a challenge, but I think we got a good enough visual for me to run better searches," Wheein reported dutifully through the earpiece.</p><p>"Why didn't we think of the window?" Byulyi asked mournfully, right before a laser finally managed to catch her foot and sound the alarm.</p><p>----</p><p>"I got nothing! Is this woman from across the border?"</p><p>"That's a thought," Byulyi muttered, careful to keep the movement of her lips to a minimum. She was back in her Yoo Nayul disguise, though she had donned a much smarter suit tonight to blend in with the high-class attendees of the charity ball. The three-piece bespoke suit was probably one of the heftier investments she had made for this line of work; hopefully the black color would hide any stains, should it come to that.</p><p>Not that she expected to actually shed any blood at a charity ball, but in any case, she had a knife strapped to her thigh and a pistol hidden in the lining of her suit jacket. As much as she wished tonight's extraction would be as easy as the first, the target and his security crew would undoubtedly be on high alert after the last theft.</p><p>"Two out of three, though. She broke your streak, unnie." Hwasa's voice came over her earpiece.</p><p>"Don't remind me," Byulyi groaned, glancing quickly about the large hall.</p><p>Across the room, "Ricky" was stationed near the buffet table, hemming and hawing over the night’s offerings. Officially, she was here as back-up in case tonight's operation went awry, but to any guest that bothered to ask, Ricky was the boisterous youngest son of some new money family, still too green to realize that charity balls wouldn't exactly fit his definition of a good time.</p><p>"Um, excuse me?" A hand tapped at Byulyi's shoulder. She turned with practiced calm, and met the blushing face of a young woman dressed in a gown that looked to be worth five times Byulyi's monthly salary.</p><p>"Yes…?"</p><p>"Yoo Shiah, daughter of the pharmaceutical magnate," Wheein supplied immediately.</p><p>"—Yoo-nim?" Byulyi continued smoothly, grateful for the save.</p><p>Yoo Shiah flushed harder in reply, looking up at Byulyi through thick lashes. "I just wanted to ask if you would like to dance? You've been standing by yourself for most of the party, so..."</p><p>Byulyi ignored the combined snickering of the other two across her earpiece, even as she fought down a blush herself. She knew her male disguise was pretty good—it had to be, for her to be able to do covert operations like this—but she never got over how many girls seemed to be attracted to her in this state. Well, more than the usual amount, at least.</p><p>"I would be honored," Byulyi smiled, and took the heiress' hand with all the grace of a gentleman as she led her out to the dance floor.</p><p>The band struck up a new song, something pleasantly jazzy. Byulyi carefully placed one hand on Yoo Shiah's waist, and grasped her hand with the other. The singer crooned soft and low, setting the tone for a slow dance.</p><p>"It's the first time I've seen you at these events," Yoo Shiah said as they began to sway together to the music.</p><p>"Ah, well, I've only recently gotten lucky with my start-up," Byulyi bluffed. "Not very large profits like I am sure the medical industry brings in, but I figured it was about time to give back all the same."</p><p>"That sounds wonderful! My brother's trying his own start-up as well. He says they're still undergoing birthing pains, but it all seems very exciting."</p><p>"Start-ups are challenging, but also very rewarding." Byulyi nodded, keeping her eyes firmly on her partner's face, even as she tracked the people around them through her peripheral gaze. It was second nature by now, and even with Hwasa serving as back-up tonight, she still needed all her wits about her.</p><p>Taking to the dance floor wasn't such a bad idea, after all. Staying a wallflower at an event as social as a charity ball, which was probably more about cutting down on taxes and networking than actually donating to good causes, would have painted her as a clear suspect for any thefts that occurred tonight. Moving around the room also helped her to get a fix on the current location of her target: two o'clock from her current position, chatting with a few other guests to the side of the stage.</p><p>The singer hit a particularly powerful note, and for a moment, Byulyi's gaze flicked to her. The glance became an outright stare – even with her hair down and wrapped in a slinky glittering dress instead of a stewardess' uniform, there was no mistaking the smile that flitted on the singer's lips.</p><p>"Ahem."</p><p>Byulyi drew her attention back to her dance partner, who seemed to have noticed her lack of attention. "Apologies. All this glamor is still quite new to me."</p><p>Yoo Shiah hummed in acknowledgment, but looked put out for the rest of the song, and did not try to keep Byulyi when she excused herself to supposedly speak with a potential sponsor. Coincidentally, the previous song seemed to have been the band's last in tonight's set, for the singer thanked the crowd as the instrumentalists gave way to a string quartet.</p><p>If anything, Byulyi became more resolute. She wouldn't be beaten thrice here, not this time.</p><p>She took a steady, unbothered pace to where the target was wrapping up a conversation with his companions, taking a stem of champagne offered to her as she went. She sipped from the drink, waiting for the others to depart before sidling up to the man in question.</p><p>"Jin Sangmoo-nim. I am Yoo Nayul of Starphone Inc., pleased to finally make your acquaintance."</p><p>The man regarded her for a few moments before his eyes lit up in recognition. "So you're the one behind all the buzz. Quite a few hornets you've stirred, my good man."</p><p>Byulyi waved off the compliment with a laugh, taking a large swig of the champagne to ward off the not-entirely-feigned embarrassment. "Nothing of the sort, Sir. Starphone still has a long way to go before we can even dream of being compared to the key players."</p><p>"Oh, don't be so modest now. Besides, healthy competition is always good for business, and I can appreciate a man who takes matters into his own hands." the director grinned, showing off two rows of gleaming white teeth. "Now, did you need me for anything in particular, or is this a mere courtesy call?"</p><p>"Funny you should mention—oh..." Byulyi trailed off, a sudden bout of dizziness hitting her. She blinked, wondering why her limbs seemed so heavy, why she was suddenly unable to move.</p><p>"Yoo-sshi?" Director Jin's face appeared in her line of vision, though his face was blurred at the edges. "Are you alright?"</p><p>"Feel... Feel dizzy," Byulyi managed to slur out, the empty glass dropping from her nerveless fingers.</p><p>"Moonbyul. What's happening, Moonbyul?" Hwasa's voice hissed into the earpiece.</p><p>"Her body's chemical levels— Unnie, you've been drugged. Hwasa, get her out of there!" Wheein said urgently.</p><p>"Oh, dear," Director Jin shook his head. "Perhaps we'd better..."</p><p>The sight of the man's bodyguards surrounding her was the last thing she saw before everything went black.</p><p>----</p><p>Byulyi's head ached something fierce when she finally came to. She bit back a groan, closing her eyes tightly to stave away the remaining dizziness as she took stock of her body's current position.</p><p>She was seated in a hardback wooden chair, and her arms were pulled behind her, the tightness around her shoulders and chest suggesting that she was bound by rope. There was a different sort of bond around her wrists – zip tied, judging from the texture, for extra security. Her legs were equally bound to two of the chair's legs. Her suit jacket and waistcoat were missing (damn, that would ruin the set), and her real hair fell loosely around her shoulders. Her earpiece was gone, as well as the knife strapped to her thigh.</p><p>"Welcome back to the waking world, Yoo Nayul-sshi. Or was it Yoo Nayoung?"</p><p>Byulyi opened her eyes, glad that the room she was being held in was dimly lit. Of course, it was a small comfort compared to the unpleasant sight that greeted her.</p><p>Director Jin stood before her in all his sleazy glory while his bodyguards hovered close by, making it clear that any sign of resistance from her would warrant a nasty payback.</p><p>"I wasn't joking when I said you'd caused quite the fuss, my dear. Your little theft caused quite a few heads to roll, you know," Director Jin said conversationally, strutting about the room with his hands shoved nonchalantly into his pockets. "I must admit your quick change threw us off your trail for a while, but no matter. The criminal always returns to the scene of the crime."</p><p>Byulyi didn't rise to the man's bait, instead fixing him with a glare. Hopefully the eye contact would keep him and the goons distracted enough while she worked on flexing her hands free from their zip tie bonds.</p><p>Luckily, Director Jin was the type of man that enjoyed the sound of his voice entirely too much. "Do you even know what the technology you stole is for, I wonder? Or did you just snatch the first trinket you could to sell for a quick buck? Ah, what am I saying? I don't expect a woman to understand the intricacies of technological advancements."</p><p>Never mind that the fool had lost the transmitter to a woman in the first place. The retort was right on the tip of her tongue, but she clamped down on the flare of anger. Her thumb was almost at the zip tie, and she could punch his face all she liked once she was free.</p><p>"A signal jammer, if you must know. Nothing new, you say? Perhaps not the concept itself, but the scale of its punch... Why, it could even bring a plane down." Director Jin smirked. "In fact, we were planning to track you down that way, but it seems you weren't curious enough to give it a push. Such a good opportunity for a field demonstration, wasted."</p><p>A chill ran down Byulyi's spine at the thought that she could have died – that an entire plane full of innocent people could have died, had they attempted to test the transmitter. Sure, they had stolen it, but that this man had an inkling of where the transmitter was and then done nothing to stop a potentially fatal live test was more despicable than any petty theft.</p><p>Yeah, Director Jin was definitely getting punched today.</p><p>"Right, that's enough of your silence," he snapped, expression suddenly shifting to impatience. "Where is the transmitter?"</p><p>Byulyi's thumb finally caught. "You didn't recover it?" she asked slowly, feigning confusion as she dragged the zip tie slowly down her wrists.</p><p>"We know it's still with you!" Director Jin barked out, stomping close enough that she could feel his spittle fly onto her face. "It's certainly not on the black market, which means the transmitter is still on you. So, you have two options: one, you surrender the transmitter peaceably, and we let you retain the capability to walk. Or two... Well, I'm sure all you'll need to cough up the information we need are working vocal cords, yes?"</p><p>Byulyi surged towards him as best as she could, and glared as he barked with laughter and sauntered away to whatever implements they planned to use for their interrogation. Much as she would have enjoyed biting his nose off, the sudden movement and the deep inhale she took was enough to stretch the ropes to capacity, providing just a bit of slack when she exhaled and leaned back. Director Jin would never have bothered with a simple task like this, and his bodyguards were trained to protect rather than to kidnap someone. The amateurs probably did the simplest knots they knew.</p><p>As discreetly as she could, Byulyi began shifting her shoulders to loosen the ropes binding her torso. Her window was limited to however long the bodyguards were distracted by Director Jin's puttering – not a very long period, and her feet were still bound, but it would be better than being left to their tender mercies.</p><p>The rope gave way just as one of the bodyguards turned his attention back to her, and he yelled out in warning. Director Jin snapped his gaze back to see Byulyi tugging at the restraint on her right foot, and shrieked in outrage.</p><p>The bodyguards moved in on her, but despite her best efforts, Byulyi wasn't able to free herself in time. In a split-second decision, she hurled herself backwards, bracing herself for the pain and praying that the chair was shoddily built enough to break upon impact.</p><p>She felt parts of wood crack underneath her, but she still managed to thunk her head on solid ground. The headboard absorbed some of the impact, but her world spun crazily for a moment. Ah, but no time to dally – there were two hulking men coming for her, and she needed to be able to fight them off.</p><p>The goons entered her line of vision, but to her surprise, they stopped right in their tracks before keeling over. Byulyi pushed herself up on her elbows just in time to see Director Jin's face go slack, his body sinking to the floor in a dead faint.</p><p>A soft tsk-ing noise drew Byulyi's attention to the woman sliding into the room via the remains of a shattered window, tranquilizer gun in hand. She stepped right into a patch of moonlight, allowing Byulyi to see her face.</p><p>"Y-You again!" Byulyi sputtered.</p><p>The woman—the singer from earlier, the cat burglar from before, Sunhae the flight stewardess—glanced over at her briefly, before turning her attention back to the unconscious form of Director Jin. She rolled the man over onto his side, gloved hands frisking his body over at least four times before she rocked back on her heels with a frown.</p><p>"What are you even doing here?" Byulyi demanded, trying to pull herself up into a proper sitting position.</p><p>Finally, Sunhae returned her attention to Byulyi. Her frown smoothed out into something that was less frustrated and hinted more at concern, before she stood and walked over to where Byulyi was sprawled out ungainly on the floor.</p><p>"What's your name?" Sunhae asked, kneeling down next to her head.</p><p>Byulyi's mouth opened, before she caught herself and glared at Sunhae.</p><p>Sunhae frowned deeper. "Unresponsive?" she murmured to herself, before cupping Byulyi's head and running gloved fingers along her skull.</p><p>"What are you doing? Why are you touching me?" Byulyi tried to squirm away from the contact.</p><p>"What's your name?" Sunhae repeated insistently, stilling Byulyi's head with a grip that was firm but gentle.</p><p>"I'm not giving my name to a... a... cat burglar!"</p><p>Sunhae gave her a dry look that made her feel slightly abashed and keenly aware of how hypocritical that statement was. "Fine, what's your disguise's name?"</p><p>Byulyi's mouth opened and closed a few times, before she muttered out a reluctant, "Yoo Nayul."</p><p>Sunhae hummed in approval, a sound that shouldn't have made Byulyi's heart skip a beat as it did, the traitorous thing. "You probably aren't concussed, but you have a bit of a bump. Might want to get that checked out after this."</p><p>Byulyi slumped back to the floor, oddly touched at being deemed worthy enough to be checked for injuries, even by a potential rival. She had a feeling the goons wouldn't be receiving the same treatment. "What are you even doing here, anyway? Is this your sideline?"</p><p>A smile tugged at Sunhae's lips, a flash of those dimples that had been haunting Byulyi's memory since the plane incident. "Just looking for something the good director might have brought with him."</p><p>"Another transmitter?"</p><p>"My intel must have gotten mixed up," Sunhae said lightly, but Byulyi knew what she had come here for. After all, she was here for the same reason.</p><p>"Probably a rumor they released themselves to draw us out. Or me. I don't know if they knew about you." Byulyi snuck a glimpse of her through her lashes, committing her uncovered face to memory. Additional details to give Wheein, she told herself. Enough for maybe a sketch of her face.</p><p>To track her down easier, she told herself.</p><p>Sunhae's gaze flickered to the door. "Right, that's my cue."</p><p>Byulyi watched as Sunhae hoisted the tranquilizer gun over her back before lifting herself onto the ledge. Her body disappeared through the window just as the door burst open, revealing a disheveled Hwasa with her gun out, clearly expecting a fight and coming to a stunned stop upon finding that it was all over and done with.</p><p>“Guess you didn’t need back-up after all…?”</p><p>“Unfortunately, I did,” Byulyi grunted as she finally sat up.</p><p>Hwasa hummed, taking note of the broken window and the tranquilizers sunk neatly into the men’s necks. “Sunhae again? Unnie, you’re losing your touch.”</p><p>“Just come here and help me up already!”</p><p>----</p><p>The debriefing had been delayed to allow Byulyi time to work the remnants of the drug out of her system. A truth serum was found to have been slipped into her champagne, which explained why her bindings had been so sloppy. The Director had apparently been confident enough of the serum's potency to bother with securing her beyond the bare minimum.</p><p>It had been to their advantage in the end, but things could have still gone awry had Sunhae not swept in when she did. Posing as a stewardess was one thing, breaking into a secure compound and stealing a valuable solution... also another thing, but to disarm a group of men to help out a rival spy was just baffling. If anything, her task would have been easier had the goons kept their focus on another target.</p><p>Instead, the woman had used up precious resources (tranquilizers weren't cheap, as their finance department often liked to remind her) and risked her own safety and cover to save Byulyi. Even if it had been done to get to the duplicate transmitter that neither of them found in the end, she could have easily left Byulyi out cold on the floor and been on her way.</p><p>She didn't have to check on her the way she did. Gotten close enough again to be identified. Sunhae had ditched her gown in favor of a catsuit, most likely for ease of movement, but her face had been made up still, with glitter on her eyelids and a crimson tint to her lips. Hours later, Byulyi could still smell the scent of peonies where Sunhae had touched her.</p><p>The woman was driving her crazy. So much so that even right before the debriefing, Byulyi was still thinking about the mysterious rival spy.</p><p>Wheein took the lollipop out of her mouth, waving it as if it were a lecturer’s presentation pointer. “Okay, listen. What if she got plastic surgery?”</p><p>“I don’t think you can smile that wide without breaking something if you get plastic surgery,” Byulyi muttered, decidedly not thinking of the way Sunhae had smiled at her before making her escape.</p><p>“She was smiling at you?” Wheein eyed her doubtfully.</p><p>“As a stewardess! It’s part of the job! Even Hyejin saw it! Didn’t you, Hyejinnie?”</p><p>Said agent put down the magazine she was perusing to lift a brow at Byulyi. “I don’t know. You were the one alone in the cubicle with her.”</p><p>Wheein cackled and spun around in her chair as Byulyi lunged over the desk to poke Hyejin in the side, only to draw back wildly as Hyejin swiped at her with her freshly reapplied talons.</p><p>It was to this chaotic scene that the head of the agency walked in, though considering how long this particular team had trained and then worked under him, Kim Dohoon hardly batted an eye at their antics any more.</p><p>“Alright, children, settle down. We have a visitor today,” Chief Kim pitched his voice loud enough to be heard over the shrieking, and held the door open to allow a woman to follow in after him.</p><p>Byulyi glanced over from where she had been holding Hyejin off, and immediately did a double take. “You!”</p><p>Sunhae broke into that now familiar dimpled smile. “Me. Hello again, Yoo Nayul-nim.”</p><p>Wheein and Hyejin gaped at the realization of who was finally in front of them, while Byulyi was slightly quicker to overcome the surprise of having the woman haunting her thoughts suddenly waltz into their very secret headquarters like it was Lotte World.</p><p>“What are you doing here? Aren’t you a rival spy?”</p><p>Chief Kim cut through the tension. “Team, this is Kim Yongsun. She will be replacing Choi Sujeong as your leader effective next week. The reason why you have encountered her on your last mission is because we wished to test her abilities against yours, and to see if she would be a good fit for the team. Not only was she able to retrieve the transmitter from you, she also beat you to the experimental truth serum that was used on Byulyi. This allowed us to analyze the sample and form an antidote that could negate the effects of the serum, hence why you could resist the questioning by Jin Sangmoo. She also proved invaluable in de-escalating the situation and assisting in the rescue of a compromised agent with minimal damage and no casualties.”</p><p>The room fell into a dead silence. The three women gawked at the supposed rival spy, who met Byulyi’s stare evenly.</p><p>“You really should be more careful about what you consume at parties,” said Sunhae—no, Kim Yongsun.</p><p>“Chief Kim, are you sure about this?” Byulyi asked, forcing herself to break gazes with Kim Yongsun. “Isn’t she a little young to be our leader?”</p><p>The Chief’s lips twitched in barely suppressed laughter, while Kim Yongsun looked equal parts offended and flattered. “I’m a year older than you,” she corrected.</p><p>“Ooh,” Wheein and Hyejin chorused while Byulyi flushed, trying to reconcile the image of that baby face with the idea of an older woman. Honestly still appealing, if not even moreso, but heaven let lightning strike her if she said that out loud.</p><p>“And she has trained personally under AUED,” Chief Kim added.</p><p>“Ahh!” Wheein and Hyejin exclaimed, their tones now more impressed than amused. Byulyi couldn’t disagree with them – AUED was a living legend in their field, the London-based spy inspiring all of them from their trainee days. To be a personal mentee of AUED would speak highly of her skills, even if Byulyi hadn’t witnessed them herself.</p><p>“She taught me all that she could, but in the end, I think I still work best in a team. It was great to match skills with you in the field, and I hope the next time we’re out there, we’ll all be on the same side.”</p><p>She dipped into a perfect bow before raising her head to smile at them, and Byulyi dimly noticed that she was wearing exactly the same shade of lipstick she had on the plane. “Kim Yongsun, codename Solar. It’s nice to meet you!”</p><p>----</p><p>Despite the unexpected start, the rest of the debriefing went routinely. For all the excitement that being a spy brought when you were on the field, the other parts of it could actually be quite mundane. There were your team meetings, paperwork, and having to drop by the medical bay to check that the last of the drug had been cleared from your system.</p><p>The doctor finally signed off on her clearance form and let her go with a brief admonishment to be more careful about imbibing unknown drinks, her second such reminder for the day.</p><p>And who else should she happen to pass by at the water cooler but the very person that apparently saved her from spilling her guts? (Figuratively and literally – she'd gotten a glimpse of the tools the Director had been sifting through, and she wanted none of them within ten feet of her.)</p><p>"Yoo Nayul-nim," Yongsun greeted, not even turning around from where she had been filling her cup.</p><p>"Stop calling me that already," Byulyi grumbled to smother her begrudging appreciation at Yongsun's tracking skills.</p><p>Yongsun turned around, the cup still held to her lips. "Then... sunbaenim?"</p><p>Byulyi grimaced. "Look, I honestly didn't know you were older than me. Just Byulyi is fine."</p><p>Yongsun snickered into her cup as she drained it, and Byulyi was briefly distracted by the way her eyes seemed to just disappear when she laughed. And...</p><p>"Ah, your mole." Byulyi blinked. "You didn't fake it for the disguise after all."</p><p>Yongsun's hand absentmindedly went up to her brow bone, smoothing over the mark. "I thought about covering it up, but if ever, people would be looking for a flight stewardess. No one would look twice at just another passenger trying to get to their luggage."</p><p>Her hand drifted back down, before a familiar mischievous smile tugged at her lips. "Besides, the only person that would have found me remarkable would have been you. And Hyejin, too, I suppose, but—"</p><p>Byulyi sputtered, a habit she seemed to be developing around Yongsun. "Was that really necessary? Didn't you think about how suspicious it would be to follow me into the actual cubicle? You could have just... I don't know, waited for me outside or something?"</p><p>Yongsun looked at her in a calculating manner, as though she were scrutinizing Byulyi from head to toe.</p><p>"I read up on you, you know," she finally said, depositing the empty cup into the bin. "I read up on all of you, of course, but your file was particularly impressive. I observed you from the moment you checked into the hotel, too. I was actually thinking to beat you from the get go, but you secured the transmitter so quickly that I had no choice but to pursue you and retrieve it from you instead."</p><p>The hotel? Byulyi wasn't sure if her opinion was colored by hindsight, but she was certain that she wouldn't have missed a face like Yongsun's. And yet, come to think of it, her figure did seem strangely familiar. Different from how she looked in a stewardess uniform, or in an evening gown, or even in a catsuit...</p><p>"Oh my god, you were the maid." Byulyi wanted to smack her head into the wall.</p><p>"I was the maid," Yongsun confirmed with a smile. Even though she had been wearing a face mask all the times she had insisted on "cleaning the room," Byulyi was furious at herself for not noticing how their eyes had crinkled the same way.</p><p>"Alright, but that still doesn't explain why you had to... corner me like that!"</p><p>Yongsun hummed thoughtfully. "You were pretty sharp about everything else, and definitely on high alert since the transmitter was already on your person. I had to find some way to distract you completely."</p><p>Byulyi could feel her face burn at the memory of just how thoroughly Yongsun had distracted her, too used to being the seducer and never the seducee. It was probably a good thing that they ended up on the same side. To have someone out there capable of exploiting a weakness she didn't know she even had was too dangerous.</p><p>"Well... congratulations, then, on your successful retrieval. But I won't fall for the same trick twice, I assure you."</p><p>The look in Yongsun's eyes shifted to something more predatory – the same look she had given Byulyi in the airplane cubicle. After a quick glance at her wristwatch, Yongsun tugged Byulyi towards her by the collar and drew her into a kiss, languorous and mind melting. Even her lipstick tasted the same, a hint of vanilla that had Byulyi sweeping her tongue across her lips for more.</p><p>Yongsun pulled away, smiling at how Byulyi tried to follow. "I need to get some things from HR now, but you wouldn't mind having lunch with me later, would you?"</p><p>Byulyi blinked slowly until she realized that they were still right in front of the water cooler. The office water cooler. And she had fallen for it again, damn it.</p><p>Yongsun smoothed Byulyi's tie back into place before sauntering down the hallway. "Take me to the nicest tteokbokki place around, Byul-sshi!"</p><p>Best out of ten, then.</p><p>----</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>
    
  </p>
</div>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Beautiful art by <a href="https://twitter.com/this_is_gian">@this_is_gian</a> on Twitter! Commissioning this piece from him actually helped me to remember that I had this spy AU WIP all along lmao</p><p>This probably wraps it up for now, but it might be fun to revisit this AU in the future with episodic missions and shenanigans. Who knows?</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>